MAC Makeup

MAC Brooke Candy for Fall 2015

August 25th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Now, if you’re me, your first reaction to finding out about the new MAC Brooke Candy collection might have been, “Who the heck is Brooke Candy?” (I had to Google her.) I gotta hand it to MAC, because following their limited edition collaborations has been a good education in cutting-edge pop culture. My playlists are ever-expanding with new artists and performers.

I still have to listen to some of Brooke’s beats, but she seems kinda edgy…kinda raunchy, but raunchy can be hella entertaining sometimes (i.e. Lil’ Kim).

The new three-piece limited edition MAC Brooke Candy mini release arrives exclusively on the MAC website August 27, and since there are only three products, there’s not a lot to it — just two lipsticks and a liquid eye liner.

The lipsticks have an interesting formula called Amplified Cream, which is a little creamier and shinier than the regular Amplifieds, which I love, but the liquid eye liner, Boot Black, hmm… Of all the MAC liquid liner options, it’s my least favorite. Sucks that I can never get a crisp line with it, and it makes me feel like a 3-year-old trying to do liquid liner, or like liquid liner was put on this earth to torture me (“Liquid liner is your enemy, not your friend!”).

But I digress…

Let’s start the video! 🙂

mac brooke candy — MAC Brooke Candy packaging…

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MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II and Trend Forecast Spring 2016

August 20th, 2015 by Karen 8 Comments

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II Lipstick is very red — warm orangey red — which I don’t quite understand because MAC calls it bright orange, but ya know…I like the color, so I’m not gonna split hairs. 🙂

Sadly, my well of Miley Cyrus fun fact trivia does not run deep… I think she was dating or engaged to a Hemsworth, wasn’t she? The one who played Gale in The Hunger Games?

I dunno…

I do know that she’s the latest MAC Viva Glam spokesperson and has a new Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass coming out next month, which I keep wanting to call Miley Cyrus Deux, because sometimes I go French when there is absolutely no need to do so…

Here’s a video look at them, along with MAC Spring Trend Forecast 2016. Just press “play” to begin.

mac viva glam miley cyrus ii — MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II Lipstick ($17) and Lipglass ($15)

mac trend forecast spring 2016 — MAC Trend Forecast Spring 16/Eye ($40) on the left and Studio Eye Gloss in Money Honey ($22) on the right

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MAC Haute Dogs Collection Fall 2015

August 20th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

It’s time to raise the roof! (Get it? Sorry…) It’s MAC Haute Dogs time.

I wish I could have hired a professional dog actor to serve as my cuddly co-broadcaster for this video… I guess I could’ve put Tabs in a dog outfit, or better yet, dressed him up as an actual hot dog of the “meat in a tube” variety — complete with all the fixin’s, of course (but please hold the sauerkraut) — but you and I both know how either of those scenarios would have gone down. There would have been hell to pay, and the payment would have involved me being scratched-the-eff-up by some very sharp tabby talons!

MAC Haute Dogs is a pretty hefty fall release with 33 pieces, and here’s a look at 13 of them (limited edition products), along with thoughts on the MAC Mineralize formula, because the collection is heavy in the Mineralize department. Got some swatches in there, too. 🙂

mac haute dogs collection — 13 of the 33 pieces from the MAC Haute Dogs collection

mac haute dogs pure bred quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in Pure Bred ($46)

mac haute dogs glimmer of gold quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in A Glimmer of Gold ($46)

mac haute dogs posh pedigree quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in Posh Pedigree ($46)

mac haute dogs lipsticks — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Lipsticks from the left: Fashion Pack, Rare Breed, Barking Gorgeous, Nose for Style and Labradorable ($23 each)

mac haute dogs collection glass — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Glasses from the left: Lap Dog, Sheer Coincidence, Modest, Dressed to the K9S ($23 each)

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MAC Cremesheen + Pearl Collection Lipstick Swatches: Part 2

August 4th, 2015 by Karen 18 Comments

mac cremesheen pearl lipsticks — MAC Cremesheen + Pearl collection Cremesheen Lipsticks

Rise and shine, pal o’ mine! Today for breakfast we’re having MAC on wheat toast with Nutella. 🙂

We have a delicious part deux post purée of six $16.50 MAC Cremesheen + Pearl collection Cremesheen Lipstick swatches to complete the 10-piece set we started last month (for reference, I’m an NC42).

All of them have been added to the MAC permanent line, so they won’t be going anywhere, and they’re available now at MAC stores, counters and online.

Of these, Koi Coral is the one I’ve been wearing the most. I friggin’ love it layered under pink and coral glosses (my favorite combo involves Urban Decay Streak Gloss).

mac koi coral — MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Koi Coral

mac sweet sakura — MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Sweet Sakura

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Kisses for You From the MAC Veluxe a Trois Collection Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glasses

July 31st, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

Three, or trois, as my high school French teacher Madame Sonsteng would say en Francais, is the magic number for the MAC Veluxe A Trois collection, and you gotta say it all slow motion and stretched out like, “twaaaahhhhhhhh.” Veluxe a twaaaahhhhhhh!

Technically, the collection doesn’t arrive on counters or in stores till August 13, but it’s already available online.

We took a look at the eye products in the release a little while back, but you know how it is with MAC… There’s a new collection out every 3.5 seconds, so here’s a quick refresher.

The collection is coming to stores and counters soon, but you have to please do me a favor now and read this list out loud like a robot (because it’s just more fun that way). 🙂

The MAC Veluxe A Trois collection includes…

6 new Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Trios ($25 each)
6 Lipsticks ($16 each)
4 Cremesheen Glasses ($20 each)
2 Haute & Naughty Mascaras ($22 each)
247 Flat Shader Brush ($25)

The stars of the show, obviously, are the new Veluxe Pearlfusion Trios, but the Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glasses are interesting, too. I’m looking forward to wearing a number of them this fall in looks. Check it…

mac veluxe a trois lipsticks — MAC Veluxe a Trois Lipsticks from the left in Cremesheen Lipstick in How Tropical, Cremesheen Lipstick in Pillow Talk, mplified Lipstick in Royally Riotous, Cremsheen Lipstick in Flowerscope, Cremesheen Lipstick in Quelle Surprise and Cremesheen Lipstick Heux

mac veluxe a trois cremesheens — MAC Cremesheens from the top to the bottom: Softly Lit, Richyly Revered and Dark Outsider (not pictured, Loud & Lovely)

mac flowerscope — MAC Cremsheen Lipstick in Flowerscope

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The MAC Electric Cool Collection Plugs Into Maximum Color and High Voltage Frost

July 31st, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

These new $22 MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadows are electric!

But no…not literally electric. You do not have to plug them in, nor will you experience a jolt if you touch one of the springy, soft pans with your finger, but wouldn’t that be weird if it actually happened?

Oddly, I can see it being a thing someday in the not-too-distant future — women paying good money to get mildly electrocuted by their eyeshadow — because, I mean, people already pay to put snail slime on their faces, so getting zapped by an eyeshadow isn’t much of a jump.

In this case, though, by “electric,” I’m referring to intense pigment and frost; in other words, a whole lotta fun. 🙂

You might remember this family of shadows from A Novel Romance last year, within which were eight Electric Cool Eye Shadows (a few of which reappear here), and I guess MAC deemed them worthy of a comeback, because they’re back in their own 16-piece limited edition collection, and it’s available now on the MAC website and coming to MAC stores and counters August 6 through September 17.

So, watt (get it?) are they?

Sorry. Couldn’t help it. 🙂

Much like Chanel’s Illusion D’Ombre cream shadows, they have a soft, springy texture, and when you press down on them, they actually bounce back! The formula isn’t quite a cream or a powder; it’s something in between.

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Neat and New to Me: MAC Sheertone Blush in Pinch Me

July 28th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

mac pinch me blush — $22 MAC Pinch Me Blush

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

Is this real life?

Am I dreaming?

Somebody pinch me, please, because I can’t tell if MAC Sheertone Blush in Pinch Me ($22 for a 0.21-oz. pan) really is as good as I think it might be.

It’s a medium-toned matte rosy brown coral in the MAC Blush family, and I wore it all weekend long on my trip to Napa with the girls. Not once did Jen or Cindy ask, “Are you ready yet?” or dramatically sigh/groan (code for “Karen, hurry up!”).

You see, they’re both very low-maintenance (their idea of putting on makeup for dinner involves lip balm), so I’m the odd duck, and they always give me crap about taking forever to get ready (the truth is, they’re totally right). Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to dilly-dally when getting ready on this trip, I packed products I knew I’d be able to use quickly — among them tinted moisturizer, under-eye concealer, mascara, brow filler, gloss and MAC Pinch Me Blush.

mac pinch me blush swatch — MAC Pinch Me swatched on my NC42 skin

What makes Pinch Me such a good get-ready-quick blush?
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Neat and New to Me: MAC Springsheen Sheertone Shimmer Powder Blush

July 23rd, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

mac springsheen blush — MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen ($22)

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

I affectionately refer to MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen as “strobing for lazy people.” (Like me!) 🙂

It’s a beautiful pinkish coral color with golden pearl, and I can’t be the only person who also likes the name. I keep hearing the words “Bruce Springsheen,” and then I picture the little compact with tiny arms and legs playing a guitar…

Anyway! It illuminates the apples of my cheeks with a pretty pinkish coral while the golden pearl in it makes my cheekbones softly glow.

mac springsheen blush swatch — Swatch of MAC Springsheen Blush on my NC42 skin

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